A Russian City's Surprising German Roots | National Geographic

In Kaliningrad, the architecture looks German. The neighborhood has some German names, and its most famous resident was Germany's most renowned philosopher, Immanuel Kant. But this is not in Germany; this is Russia. The city began its life as Königsberg, a fortress built by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. Over the next 700 years, it changed hands twice until 1946, when, in the wake of World War Two, Königsberg went back to Russia and was renamed Kaliningrad.

Needless to say, German heritage was not widely celebrated in the post-war years. But after nearly 75 years of peace, enough time has passed for the people of Kaliningrad to start embracing their complex history. Nowadays, the Football World Cup and the whole world are looking at Kaliningrad. It's a kind of our own desire to know about ourselves, about our history. That's why we do all these restoration projects all around the city and all around the region.

When most people think of Kaliningrad, they picture its beautiful beaches or its quaint fishing villages. But when you visit here, it's easy to see its multicultural history. Although its German past has been mostly hidden, in recent years, it apparently took the FIFA World Cup to help bring it out. [Music]